NORTHAMPTON – A somewhat shell-shocked David Shipka said he is stunned by the negative reaction to his request for a 22 percent raise in his post as administrator of the city’s Retirement Office.

“I didn’t expect all this atention,” he said.

Shipka, currently earns $56,000 a year, but has asked for a $12,200 increase to $68,000, a figure he feels is comparable to administrators of other municipal retirement offices in the area. He is also seeking a 3.5 percent pay raise for his clerk, Elisa Irizarry, who earns $30,000 a year at present.

When news of his request came to light, however, it was met with protests by other city employees, most of whom reluctantly accepted wage freezes at the request of Mayor Mary Clare Higgins. In compiling her fiscal 2012 budget, Higgins said the wage freezes were the only way to avoid layoffs in fiscal 2012.

The Retirement Board, which has sole discretion over granting the raises, declined to act on them at its June 28 meeting, saying it needed more time to study the issue. The board will meet again on July 28.

Discussion of Shipka’s salary began after the board conducted its annual evaluations this spring, a process that includes a review of salaries.

“David gave us a lot of information,” said board member Shirley LaRose. “We said we would bring it to the next meeting.”

Among the information supplied by Shipka was a survey showing the salaries of 12 retirement office administrators in the area. His is the lowest. Shipka said Tuesday that the survey results were not available to him when he was negotiating his salary last year.

“I regret not asking for more at the time,” he said.

Shipka began working for the city in 2004 as a clerk in the Retirement Office . He was appointed to replace Barbara Weeks last year when Weeks retired. She was earning $62,000 at the time, but Shipka was hired at a salary of $56,000.

“I’ve been here for seven years,” he said. “It’s not like I just started doing this stuff. I’m disappointed some people don’t believe I deserve an increase.”

Finance Director Susan Wright, Higgins’ appointment to the Retirement Board, acknowledged that Shipka can make a case for being underpaid, considering the size of the system he administers. He manages the accounts of about 1,000 retirees and active employees. Shipka said about 360 of those members are currently retired.

“It’s equivalent in its level of complexity to the auditor or treasurer,” Wright said, noting that both those positions earn more money in Northampton.

However, Wright also pointed out that she recently came to the mayor’s office from the School Department, where employees are not happy about the wage freeze. Given the mood of fiscal austerity, Wright said she would like to study the survey submitted by Shipka for factors such as experience and level of education.

“It’s good information but it’s incomplete,” she said.

According to Shipka, the Retirement Office’s budget is determined by a bi-annual actuarial evaluation. Because those numbers are locked in until next year, he said, the raises would not affect the city budget.

“I didn’t think it was relevant to what the city decided to do (regarding the wage freeze),” he said.

Although he has heard the criticism by some city employees, Shipka believes others might support him.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “I really don’t. I guess I asked for a raise at a time when other people were not getting raises and they’re upset. I understand why they’re upset.”

Should the board deny his request, Shipka said, he would accept its decision and go on with his work.